Tuesday Shopping Tips – buying desktops

Sometimes, the key to finding a good deal is knowing how to look for it. I’ve been hunting deals for quite some time, and in this new weekly segment, I’ll share with you some of my tips for finding bargains. This week, we tackle desktops.

When shopping for any product, the most important thing to do is figure out what you’re going to be using it for so you can buy the model that’s right for you. Unlike laptops, portability is not usually an important factor, but the physical size of your desktop can matter quite a bit. And of course, power is a factor, and you don’t want to be paying for more than you need.

There are three major form factors and three major categories of desktops that most people buy. In this post, I’ll take you through some of the basic pros/cons of each.

Form factors

Standard towers: This is your most common desktop computer, which features a large tower connected by cords to your monitor. Frequently, speakers, keyboard, mouse and other accessories are all wired to this central tower as well. While some towers go out of their way to be thinner, like HP’s Slimline, these are usually the largest form factor there is, and give you the most bang for your buck.

Mini-PCs (Nettops): Like netbooks for laptops, “Nettops” are the smallest, and generally least powerful desktops out there. These desktops are small enough to pick up and take with you, whether it’s to the other room or across the country. They usually don’t come with monitors, but they can easily hook up to any monitor or TV that you have around. Lenovo’s IdeaCentre Q150 is a great example.

All-in-Ones: All-in-One desktops take all the components you need for your desktop and build them directly into your monitor, meaning you’ve got the whole package in one device. Usually it comes with integrated speakers and a wireless or Bluetooth keyboard/mouse, removing wires from cluttering up the simplicity. These desktops are only as big as you want your monitor to be. Some, like Lenovo’s IdeaCentre A300, IdeaCentre A310, and IdeaCentre 700 are particularly thin, while others, like HP’s TouchSmart 300z and Lenovo’s IdeaCentre B305, are built with touch capability in mind and allow you to ditch the keyboard and mouse entirely.

Desktop Categories

Web browsing/word processing: Many people are just looking for a way to get online and write papers. Rest assured, any desktop will do this for you, and if this is all you need, don’t be fooled into buying something more expensive.

Multimedia: If you want your desktop to be your destination for watching HD videos, you’ve got to make sure it has the right components. Integrated graphics can increasingly play 720p HD, but if you want Full HD you may want to opt for a dual-core processor or better and a dedicated graphics chip. How big your monitor is is up to you, but be sure you don’t pick something with less than a full 1920×1080 resolution if you want to watch 1080p HD on it. HDMI is also highly recommended.

Gaming: Gaming rigs are generally the most expensive, and for most people, the least necessary. Playing games on facebook will be possible on just about any desktop, but true gamers don’t consider those to be real “games”. If you want to play the games like Crysis and whatever comes next for the next few years, you’ll want nothing short of quad-core CPU, a 1GB GPU, and 4GB+ RAM. A Full HD display is also essential.

On LogicBUY, it’s easy to find a large selection of desktops. Just hover your mouse over the “Computers” category and click on desktops (see right) to see dozens of desktop deals. Be sure to look at the top right of the grid too for more sort options, including by price. The last component to any shopping trip is knowing your budget.

Got any tips that I missed? See something I didn’t make clear, or just curious for more info? Let me know in the comments.

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